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Trees
Trees are an obvious part of most, if not all Millennium Greens. The Countryside Agency required in our Trust Deed for us to : *"Include significant "natural" areas where people can enjoy Nature and wildlife at first hand". So Greens were designed with at least some trees on them. Most Greens already had at least a few trees on them and the majority have increased their trees during their tenure of the land. Many have woodlands and orchards and a good proportion of the Greens have some kind of list of the species on their land. Woodland Orchard Many Greens have orchards on them. Orchards can be a source of added interest for visitors; education for visitors and volunteers; a focus for events; a fruit bonus for the area or the volunteers; a source of income. Species Lists of Species It is good to get to know what species are on our Greens, if only so we can learn how to look after them, their needs can be quite different. Over time, people will enquire about the types of tree on our Greens and handing out a list, or directing people to a list on a website certainly creates an impression of competance. If there are local Botanical or wildlife groups they may wish to get involved in such recording. Native Species Many Millennium Greens are interested in planting specifically Native Trees on their Green. Whilst it is good to support these trees, which tend to support more of our native wildlife, in perspective, the trees we count as native are only those which happen to have recolonised some part of Britain before the nation became an island 6, 000 years ago. They are not neccesarily all native or suited to all parts of the UK, nor are many other European and other trees neccesarily that unsuited to where they now grow. Thus whilst, for example, New Southgate has only Native trees in their boundary hedge and is creating an arboretum with all 34 Native species in it, they welcome specimens of many other suitable trees as well. Furthermore, the Forestry Commission makes it clear that not all native trees are suitable for the typically brownfield locations that many urban Millennium Greens are. They have a list of which trees do well in certain conditions. Planting Trees need to be planted in the correct way at the correct time to ensure their survival. Generally, bare rooted trees need to be planted when dormant, while containerised trees can be planted all year round. The Tree Council particularly supports planting trees in the early winter in their National Tree Week. Funding and Support for Tree Planting Funding Many organisations will support tree planting- for some, such as the Woodland Trust it is a key part of what they do, for commercial sponsors, such as Homebase, who give trees every year to New Southgate, it is something that looks good to the public. Since trees can be very cheap its not difficult to find someone to pay for them and as it looks good on the Trust to find sposors, they should always consider asking for donations of money for trees or for trees. Advice and Support Local Authorities should be able to give support, the larger bodies usually have a Tree Officer or department. Woodland Trust can give technical advice as well as assist in getting grants. Forestry Commission can give advice- Contact them immediately if you have signs of ASH DIEBACK as they need reports. The Tree Council has local, trained, voluntary, tree wardens in many areas, who can give advice. Category:Info Pages